Posts in Research

Yes, I had been planning on sharing these images of the “unboxing” of the Google Chromecast for a while now and had promised a few people I would do this ASAP. Well, a month or so later, here it is…

And the reason for writing it now, I just got my second one for the other TV in our house. It has been the best $35 spent in technology in a long while for me. Simple and usable. I am a fan on so many levels.

Let’s put it this way, receiving the first of my Chromecast’s was like Christmas, the second that just came a week ago was like a birthday surprise. There simplicity of setup, use, and enjoyment is great. I bought both of my Chromecast’s from the Play Store. The packaging came like so:

The set up was extremely simple as well. Honestly, you just go to one link while on your WIFI and it finds the ChromeCast, connects, lets you name it, and then set your preferences for it. Truly, that easy of a process for this. I have those screenshots as well but didn’t know if it would make anyone want it more. So, after one month with this, I finally received my second one and did the same thing. Setup took around 5 minutes from start to finish. It is a must to have in your house. Though, if you have an Apple TV, there really isn’t a reason to get this. But, if you don’t have one, this is the product to have!

So, what do you all think of it? Have you seen it’s capabilities and features? Would you use one? Do you have one? I will be writing an article about this vs the Apple TV soon as well but would love to hear your thoughts prior!

Continual education is something to be desired, not simply something you are required to do… Khan Academy gives you that ability to turn education into a desire. Khan takes a moment to encourage folks to keep this same learning desire in their lives in his commencement speech. He made points that makes you want to keep learning from day one, or at least it did for me!

Have you used the Khan Academy? Any videos / thoughts you would want others to check out? What sites do you use to keep learning? What do you recommend?

Recently, I have been trying to analyze why I like working out in the morning. For me, it helps my day ‘go smoother’ and stay more focused. But why?

“If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF(Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This BDNF has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. That’s why we often feel so at ease and like things are clear after exercising. At the same time, endorphins, another chemical to fight stress, are released in your brain…”

Until I read this article, I didn’t realize why working out even made a difference with my mindset. Nor did I realize why a simple walk would be so soothing and relaxing for the mind. What do you do as a mental exercise / physical exercise to sooth your day?

I am still trying to figure out if I want an iPhone or if I should stay with my Android. Either way, here is some interesting information that I just found on iPhone about codes that you should probably read, here is the reblog:

The 10 most common passcodes according to Amitay’s findings are, in ascending order, 1234, 0000, 2580, 1111, 5555, 5683, 0852, 2222, 1212 and 1998. The top ten passcodes used to unlock the Iphone make up 15 per cent of all passcodes in use.

Amitay didn’t spend forever looking over peoples shoulders and writing down passcodes 204,508 times but used his app to record the data. He anonymously recorded passcodes that people used for his application.

His app for the Iphone, which takes a photo of anyone using your phone without permission, uses a lock screen that’s almost identical to the one used by the Iphone itself. For this reason he thinks his findings should correlate well to what people use for their passcodes for the Iphone.

There’s also the fact that most people like to use the same codes for things to avoid confusion and forgetting things.

Among the same digit passcodes are ones that spell words, that is, 5683 spells ‘Love’. Amitay wrote that passcodes ranging from 1990 to 2000 are all in the top 50, and 1980 to 1989 are all in the top 100, and he said, “I would interpret this occurrence as a subset of users that set their passcodes to the year of their birth or graduation.”

If the findings really do match the actual passcodes of Iphone users then with the top 10 codes making up 15 per cent, nearly 1 in 7 Iphones can be unlocked within 10 blind attempts.

The world of news is endless and in many ways there is a sense of news overload. But, yesterday someone did ask what websites I watched for technology related to Randomly Famous, LLC. Here is my short list of websites that I check on a more regular basis, in no particular order. I do want to say though, news is news and needs to be filtered because some of the content isn’t news worthy. This is no perfect list so if you have suggestions, please let me know, I am truly trying to learn more about filtering the good news vs. the bad news. Plus, looking for aggregation tools, new sites to check out, and so on. Fill me in below!

Often when it comes to brainstorming, I’ve realized that I don’t contemplate the ideas for a extensive period of time. Simple as that, I don’t sit down and think over a concept after it has come into existence. There are moments on a regular basis that need simple time and contemplation rather then quick decisions.

Normally, I live by a statue of hurry and wait but I am starting to think that in moments of brainstorming and problem solving it revolves around waiting a bit and fully contemplating each idea.

So to the painless point of this, take time to think and understand. We live rushed lives and yet thinking is the power we control that can be slowed down. And personally, I want to control what I have control over and slow it down to contemplate ideas fully and “creatively – execute – ideas.”

In one random moment, I decided that I would take a little bit of time on the metro to write. Well, I didn’t think that I would get the views / time from people but the results are quite surprising, to be honest. I can’t believe that some of the posts have upwards of 50 views and that Google Analytics is putting people at 10-15 minutes on the site.

That sounds like boasting, so to the point of this quick thought. I realized that I needed to give ‘information’ and ‘valuable’ information to those who read this. I have followers on Twitter because I have a focus and idea that I constantly write about (Creatively – Executing – Ideas) and that style and simplicity needs to be brought to here as well.

I decided to do some research since this realm is of interest. In the process I found a nice and simple website that pointed out the ten things to make your blog great. Here is the list but I do recommend hitting up the site for a more in-depth look.

There is no solve all mathematical equation to get a blog to work and yet it is an interesting start to my research. I’ve been watching blogs like Planet5D / PhilipBloom / Etc for their insight and to see how they grew. I have slowly noticed that research and learning are things I enjoy understanding. And, that’s why you are reading this short, unedited little research analysis that I found. The process is one that takes a lot of time and effort. You can see this by looking at some blogs about photography, business, entrepreneurship, and the list goes on and on. These sites moved up in ‘rank’ by keeping to a process that their readers wanted.

Finally, one process that I should keep to lays on the foundation that I should be advertising every part of my network. Take a moment and check out my Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and join with me in conversation. My next goal is to find out how to make a little extra money off of this idea and the rest of my entrepreneurial ideas.

Quick Intro

I have a simple theme in life that revolves around the idea of creatively - executing - ideas. My goal is to use these three things in every area of life. The truth is, I am a born entrepreneur and story teller. I love hearing people's life stories, applying them to my life, and allowing myself to execute each idea. I will have a thousand failed ideas and a few successful... Join me and let's work together to pull the successes off.